Lunar data center intact despite lunar lander's botched landing, St. Pete company says

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg-based space startup Lonestar Data Holdings says its lunar data center is the only surviving payload after a private lunar lander came down sideways on the moon.

Lunar lander declared dead

The backstory:

The Nova-C lander, named Athena by Intuitive Machines, launched onboard a SpaceX rocket in late February.

A view from the Nova-C Athena lander moments before touching down near the lunar south pole on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Intuitive Machines)

On Thursday, the lander missed its mark by more than 800 feet and ended up in a frigid crater, with the company declaring it dead on Friday.

Lonestar's Freedom Data Center

Local perspective:

Amid tens of millions of dollars' worth of experiments onboard the lander was Lonestar's Freedom Data Center, carrying 8 terabytes worth of material from the State of Florida as well as other government and business organizations.

The data center is encased in a 3D-printed shell built to endure harsh lunar conditions for more than a millennium, the company said.

Pictured: A replica of the 3D-printed case that holds Lonestar's lunar data center.

Lonestar told FOX 13 its goal is to preserve such records 240,000 miles from Earth, away from any potential natural disasters, cyber threats, and other risks.

"Our core mission is saving Earth’s data, one byte at a time," said Chris Stott, CEO of Lonestar, in a recent news release. "But we also want to inspire—this project is a blend of technology and art that will last for a thousand years."

The company monitored the mission from its pop-up "mission control center" in St. Pete.

Pictured: Lonestar's pop-up mission control operation in St. Pete.

On Friday, Lonestar confirmed the data center is intact despite the botched landing on the moon's surface.

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What's next:

Lonestar says it hopes to expand its lunar infrastructure, providing off-world data backup for businesses, governments, and even future space missions.

The Source: This story was written with information provided by Lonestar Data Holdings, along with previous FOX 13 and FOX News Digital reports. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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